


Collocation

by unwindmyself



Series: curious shapes shift in the dark [81]
Category: True Blood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Correspondence, F/F, Fix-It, Gen, Vampire Politics, agency and choices!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-25
Updated: 2015-04-25
Packaged: 2018-03-25 16:17:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3816859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unwindmyself/pseuds/unwindmyself
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nora sets out to start rebuilding what was broken and asks Jessica to play a rather key role.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Collocation

**Author's Note:**

> Part four, "Lovely Intermission."

_Attn: vampire monarchs of the United States territories._

_As you doubtless know, these last months have been a confusing time for vampires, and though an easy excuse would be that it was the fault of ignorant humans somehow, that isn’t true.  Guardian Zimojic, as some of you know, was murdered by Russell Edgington, and unofficially Chancellor Agrippa stepped in to fill his role.  However, some of the chancellors - myself included - were at the time acting as part of a Sanguinista conspiracy plot (Chancellor Drew was the first to be found out and was summarily executed, and Chancellor Braun was killed soon after), and soon, after consuming drops of Lilith’s sacred blood, all of the chancellors were brought in on it.  This is the reason the TruBlood factories were bombed, not human terrorists._

_Lilith’s blood was also shared with multiple civilians, including Edgington, Louisiana Area 5 sheriff Eric Northman, and King of Louisiana Bill Compton, and they were brought into the chancellors’ inner sanctum without any official election process._

 

* * *

 

“Are you gonna be doin’ emails all night?” Jessica asks from the couch.  “I was kinda hopin’ we could… y’know.”

Actually, it could mean either “have sex” or “practice Aramaic,” so Nora doesn’t know, strictly speaking.  Either option is more fun than what she’s trying to do, but she needs to do it. “In a while,” she says, trying not to sound too dismissive.

“Who are the emails for?” Jessica presses.

Nora frowns at the computer screen.  “Virtually all of our world-saving efforts have been rather locally focused,” she says.  “It’s reasonable, given that we were at the epicenter of the concerns, but…”

“But blowback,” Jessica surmises.  “Worryin’ about how things affected everyone else.”

“Now that we have the time, yes.”

 

* * *

 

_Fueled by Lilith’s blood, the new group of chancellors were beginning to enact a plan that can only be described as complete vampire supremacy, using the Sanguinist interpretation of the Bible to justify these actions.  The chancellors also began to turn on each other in hopes of being the one to take Lilith into themselves completely and reign supreme; in this pursuit, Chancellors Akinjide and Agrippa were destroyed by Bill Compton, who then drank the entire of Lilith’s blood and began enacting a more extreme plan even than had been discussed by the chancellors._

 

* * *

 

“That kinda falls on you now, doesn’t it,” Jessica muses.  “Bein’ the last one left and whatever.”

Nora purses her lips, fidgeting with her necklace and nodding - Jessica is starting to be able to recognize her “thinking about the gone” look, and this is definitely a mild form of it.  “I’d never dreamed something like this would happen,” she says quietly.  “I’d never even imagined that I would - well, in this way chancellorship was more like a monarchy than a democracy.  Once chosen, it was a position kept until resignation or true death, and almost nobody had ever resigned.  Why would you, once you’d got all of the power you possibly could?”  She shakes her head.  “That goes double for the Guardian.  Hell, he’d held his position for longer than I’d even been on this earth.  I can’t say I had many fond feelings toward the man, but before… all of this, I’d sort of imagined him invulnerable.”

“Yeah,” Jessica murmurs.  “I remember kinda wishin’ Bill would go, when I was a baby and I resented the hell outta him, but I never in a million years thought…”

Immediately Nora is out of her chair, going to kneel by Jessica and take her hand.  “I know,” she says.  “You were unbelievably brave, and I’m sorry it had to be that way. I’m sorry I set that in motion.”

 

* * *

 

_I write to you because, thanks largely to Eric Northman and the fact that I was dissuaded of the holiness of Lilith, her blood, and the Sanguinist ideology, I am the last of the Authority’s remaining original chancellors.  Northman, though not an original chancellor, also survived the events that followed, which were: upon learning of Compton’s plans to consume Lilith, Northman, myself, and a group of others (both vampire and human) who were close to the situation returned to put a stop to it.  Unrelated, a pair of shifters, one whose daughter had been kidnapped by Russell Edgington and Steve Newlin, had broken into the Authority building to retrieve said daughter; they were responsible for the death of Chancellor Harris.  Also unrelated, Northman destroyed Edgington.  
_

 

* * *

 

Jessica shrugs.  “I’m gettin’ over it, sorta,” she says.  “I’m makin’ do.”

Nora bites her lip, brushes her thumb across Jessica’s.  “There is one other thing,” she murmurs.  “If you’re willing to consider.”

“What’s left to do?” Jessica asks.  “We got rid of all the baddies, didn’t we?”

“And left a vacant throne,” Nora points out. “That you could assume.”

 

* * *

 

_Northman and a human woman who had once been Compton’s paramour witnessed his transformation by the blood and from there, we all regrouped and spent the next two weeks gathering forces to put a stop to this unholy terror.  Compton’s end was eventually brought about by his progeny, Jessica Hamby, who though young has been asked to assume the throne in Louisiana._

 

* * *

“I didn’t realize it was like real kings and queens,” Jessica says, halfway-teasing.

“It’s not, exactly,” Nora replies.

“Then no offense, but, y’know, why’re you askin’ me?” Jessica asks.  “I mean, I didn’t, like, follow him around learnin’ about rule.  Hell, I’ve never even had a real job.”

“Neither did Queen Elizabeth when she was still a princess, and she did fairly well for herself,” Nora declares.  “You don’t have to take it up if you’re not comfortable, but I… I’ve been thinking about it, and it makes sense.  You’ve been so heavily involved in all of the current politics, and you did do away with the last monarch, strictly speaking - sorry - and besides that, I may be a bit biased but I think you’re… I think you’ve a wonderful heart and a good instinct for things.”

Jessica goes wide-eyed, taken aback by what sure sounds like a declaration of feelings.  “I… I don’t know what to say.”

“Think about it?” Nora asks.

Jessica nods.  “I’ll think about it,” she agrees.

 

* * *

 

_We also put a stop to the Louisiana governor’s attempt to operate what amounted to vampire prison camps, and in the process did away with both the governor and known enemy to vampires Sarah Newlin.  The team assembled to take care of both threats was comprised of vampires, humans, shifters, and others whose identities I have yet to be given permission to disclose, and as we go forward trying to rebuild the government, a policy of more direct involvement with other species will be enacted._

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Nora?” Jessica asks softly.

“Yes?”

“Could you come up here and kiss me?”

Nora glances toward the computer.  “I’ll finish the email in a little while,” she agrees, pushing herself up onto the couch and leaning into the younger woman with a grin.

 

* * *

 

_More details will be forthcoming, but I would ask you report back with a few things._

  1. _Any updates on what may have happened recently in your territory (shamefully, we’ve been pretty exclusively concerned with our local affairs) and how we may be able to help._

  2. _Who, specifically, remains from your local administrations._

  3. _Candidates you may wish to suggest for positions in the new government._




_Sincerely,_

_Chancellor Nora Gainesborough_


End file.
